Yes, I slept through. I didn't watch any of the show however. I fell asleep after about ten minutes. I have not seen Bahar on the train or the new girl yet.

On the whole I couldn't see the whole arranged marriage thing. It runs counter to the idea of people in love getting married. It has the order wrong, and love often doesn't ever come into the picture. I think it is as you say and the people are miserable and they have affairs.

I have nearly finished Ep 34 and trouble is looming for Selim. There is an episode where Behzat goes on holiday with Esra but it is ruined by Sule's big mouth again. It follows a well worn plot device which was pretty silly if you analysed it. In this ep Excrement turns up again but he has abandoned the Jenning's specials in favour of a Bruce Willis look (The Jackal - I enjoyed that movie). Wont say any more til you catch up.

I just finished episode 30. Moron freaked out when Eda asked if he was getting married because of her. Thou dost protest too much. Later he meets her and warns her about Selim and offers to break his engagement if she tells him to. He isn't over her and won't ever be. He can't get past it. Eda tells him once again that she doesn't like him like that. He flips out again. He is smitten and love sick. He should have had psych help long ago. He never learned to deal with disappointment in a mature, adult, responsible manner.

Esra comes to see Berserk. I agree she sometimes has a sparkle in her eye. I don't know if there is something real there or not. She tells him to call the Colonel's death a suicide. Is this political pressure? She is afraid they will detain Berserk. She loves him, in this show anyway. His boss's boss told him to solve the case no matter where it lead. But now he is getting pressure to cover it up. In this show Berserk doesn't care who he has to go up against. In real life, he would cave to the pressure. The powers that be will kill you if you don't cave. Now I have seen them bribe him with the photos of Berna's death, and he has learned that Esra loves him.

Moron cries because he had to admit that his facade of being over Eda cracked. I do feel some sympathy for Moron. I've felt the sting of unrequited love before, and it does hurt. You have to get away and do something else, try to meet new people. Of course he works with her, so that is tough. I doubt he could find a job anywhere else. Berserk seems to shelter and protect him.

By the way, I have started typing all my comments in Wordpad and then transferring them here. I put the font on 24 so I can see it very easily through either section of my bifocals. If you do that, you have to type a few letters directly into this box before you can hit submit.

I've been expecting trouble for Selim for some time now. Did you notice that exchange between Ghost and him? I got sick of Selim right there. He kept insisting that nobody wants him around, they are excluding him, etc. If he keeps talking that way, nobody is going to want to work with him.

episode 31...... Memduh made veiled threats against Bahar's children and explicit threats against her ex husband. She is scared to report him. Memduh wants her ex to stop investigating him and Excrement. She left her kids with the leftie lady friend. She is afraid to tell anyone about this.

Selim is getting crazy. They showed him at the shooting range. He was shooting the target and imagining Ghost and Moran's faces and shooting them. He yelled in a rage as he fired. He has imagined them as excluding him, not wanting him around, etc. and he now hates them and fantasizes about killing them. I don't know what you've seen in later episodes but I can see him beginning to unravel further now in ep 31. Evidently Selim took the day off to go practice shooting and fantasizing about killing his coworkers. Berserk said he asked for the day off to do something. Ghost asked Eda what it was about and she says Selim didn't tell her. She seems a little worn out from dealing with him.

Now Bahar is telling her ex husband Ertan about Memduh having the kids followed and making threats. But Ertan won't let it go.

He goes to see Berserk and tells him he is investigating Memduh and Excrement, and about the threats. I expect Urine to go off half cocked and get into trouble again.

Esra says she will help Berserk do something about Memduh. Vulture is having dreams about dogs. He has an affinity for animals, like we do.

Vulture plays the hero and saves the young girl. Esra finds and saves Ertan from the bomb. Berserk meanwhile meets Memduh and gets a CD about Berna in her last hours. This episode had a lot more than the murder in it.

The episodes are getting stronger with the Berna revelations - I do wish though that they would stop with the ghostly visions. Beserk is finding out more about Excrement - there seems to be something in both their pasts which connect them. I am on about Ep 34 at the moment - it's well saying it is getting more interesting because I am watching it more than usual. I am going back to Spiral for this evening.

halfway through ep 32

Moron is giving dating advice to Ghost. lol. Ghost ought to know better. Moron helps him write a letter to Ghost's girl. Eda says 'that woman' called, but I don't know who they mean.

Moron is back to his normal, stupid self. He offered to tell some lady a rabbit turtle story, and then began destroying a piano, acting like a complete idiot. He is the comedic relief to the show I guess. Someone to make us exasperated, disgusted, amazed, etc. He is like a big kid, wandering around, breaking things, blaming others, and eating, always eating. The main thing he is good for is tackling a suspect who happens to run in his direction; he is no good for chasing them.

Ghost is worried about what's her name's trial. I don't know, but I think I would have been done with her once she ratted on me and my crew for trying to help her. But love makes one crazy.

Moron went searching the life coach's mobile home and homed in on the chips stash. I know, that is an old trope. Sometimes I think this show is overly padded with stuff like this. There is a whole lot of Moron's foolishness, his eating, his stupidity, Sevket's frenetic gesturing and yelling, Berserk's stuff, and not much in the way of the story.

I give the show credit for showing Ertan with serious injuries after the bomb blast. Most shows have someone jump away from a bomb and jump up, shake their head, and keep going. The bomb suit lady covered him up so they are saying he survived from that. In reality, he would not have survived. The bomb tech might not have survived, despite the suit. But at least they showed him with serious injuries.

Moron tells the girl she shouldn't help the police by snitching on her boyfriend and tells her to take a hike. What an idiot. I want to say he could not be a cop. But sometimes they hire some real idiots. I don't know if his wedding will happen or not. I know that it shouldn't happen. He will ruin that girl's life.

Moron the Whale is lying on his bed drinking beer, getting fatter by the minute, and Melhia calls him. Perhaps she just has no prospects at all. But I can't imagine she wants to talk to a drunk slob like him. Or live with one either. Imagine for a moment what happens. He will want to drink a few beers at night. That will cause friction, so he will go out drinking with his friends. That means she won't see him except when he comes home drunk or wakes up hungover. Even now he is avoiding her; she wants to meet face to face and talk, and he immediately lies to her to avoid her. I would like it better if he faced consequences for his awful behavior. But instead he is forgiven and enabled at every step. I hope she catches him lying soon, before things go any further in this sham.

Ilgin has been released. I think that it the girl who ratted on him, the one who killed her abusive husband.

Sevket wants Berserk to let his murder suspect go to score points with his high school sweetheart. I have a feeling the kid is innocent and Berserk will catch the real killer.

I was wondering when the Berna part of the story would come back into play. I think the CD he was given must have been doctored. Maybe I can catch up this evening. Last night I just crashed.

OK, I am getting really tired of Moron making up stupid fake identities for himself and Berserk when they first meet some person of interest. It is another opportunity for him to display how much of a dumbass he is, but doesn't this show do that enough? It has turned into the fat dumbass, bumbling, childish, Moron show. I wish they would meet a real psycho one of these times and he would just pull a pistol and shoot that fat bastard right in the forehead. This has turned into an episode about idiotic people and they are stuffing them into the car. They stuffed shiny suit into the trunk and went back to Ankara. They wound up pushing the car. And then it turned into a freak show of sorts. It's like the writers figured "Hey, Moron is a good character, let's make more stupid people like him and fill the whole show up with them."

I am starting to get angry. It is just too stupid. I would much prefer to watch Berserk beating suspects, especially these idiots. I feel like I wasted my time watching this episode. I am hoping there will be something of substance in it somewhere.

I thought Cevdet had been shot, but I guess the guy missed.

OK, starting episode 33 now.

I thought Cevdet had been shot too - the guy was only about 10 feet away from him and from the look on Cevdet's face I assumed he had been shot in the back. Ilgin is a journalist who was investigating the case of the colonel who supposedly committed suicide but who the team figured out had been murdered. She was taken into custody by counter intelligence but not before she had given Behzat a CD with some evidence on it which Behzat hid in his jacket and refused to give in to a search by counter intelligence operatives who had arrived at her flat just after the team did. Ghost has fallen in love with her and has even bought about a dozen blue shirts to impress her. She is released and they have a meeting and she likes him too - but things do not go smoothly on this show!! I just fast forward when Moron gets too stupid. He has no interest in Meliha - the arrangements - the wedding - it's just "oh you do it - I don't care" - how can she even contemplate marrying him? Maybe she is in her late twenties and doesn't want to be an old maid - maybe she wants the mandatory four kids that muslim women average before she gets too old. Who knows - I certainly don't. She has seen so many red flags in just a few weeks that she could supply the Russian Army with them. Doesn't she ask herself "what is in it for me?" Answer - a fat slob with a violent personality who is totally selfish and inconsiderate and who is only interested in what is in the fridge or on the table - who drinks like a fish and who spends more time at work than at home. Maybe the latter is the deciding factor - at least she wont see much of him. In the next couple of episodes you will see what an idiot Behzat can be - he doesn't seem to have a clue how womens minds work. His real life wife is going to appear in the show for quite a few episodes - she is called Ceyda in the show. "That woman" whom Eda mentioned is the female who keeps calling up and asking for Vulture - he hasn't got a clue who she is - he never seems to be there when she phones. Have you gotten to the Selim situation yet? And another character has been busted as well - it's all happening now so you should regain some interest.

update. I am watching episode 36 now.

I am sick of watching this stupid Muslim family honor bullshit. Moron flies into a rage if he thinks his sister is talking to a boy on the Internet or the phone. When he suspected she had a boyfriend he said he was going to kill both of them. Muslims are not joking when they say that, though Moron wouldn't actually do it. His sister is in her 20s but he thinks she is too young to speak to a boy. But a Muslim family can marry off their daughter at the age of 9. I'm serious.

Cevdet could get rid of Moron real easily. He would just have to toss a bag of chips out in the street in front of a bus. He could just act like he didn't want the chips. All they could charge him with would be littering.

Moron goes nuts over any girl he sees, and he thinks there is nothing wrong if she talks to him. But he thinks his sister should die for talking to a boy. I know this is for a Muslim audience, but it is absurd that the others act like his attitude is understandable.
Moron told Asli she doesn't know what love is, and Asli told him he doesn't love Melhia. He started to sputter something and she told him he always makes excuses and runs whenever she comes around. The others try to talk sense to him, tell him Cevdet is a nice guy, that his sister is old enough to talk to boys, and so on. But Moron just gets angry, threatens to beat them, or waddles off in a huff. Frankly, I would like to see them at least shun him for being an ass about it.

Have you noticed the way Sule acts when the subject of Berna and suicide comes up? She almost acts like she feels guilty. In a flashback to the mental hospital Berserk recalled how Sule seemed to guess so much about him, that he was a cop, that he worked in homicide. It starts to look like she knew something about him before she met him there.

Moron lies to himself, he pretends he has money he doesn't, he lies to his family, his fiance, the captain, and anyone else who asks him something which makes him feel uncomfortable. He flies into a rage to cover up his insecurity, and as a way to lie to himself about what really bothers him. He is a sputtering fool.

I just watched another stupid chase scene. As they approach the suspect, Berserk calls out his name while they are several yards away from him, giving him a head start. A little drama, a little action.

I just read the summaries for episodes 37, 38, and 39. There is a LOT of important, BIG stuff coming up. In 38 it says we learn who killed Berna, and in 39 Berserk awaits trial in prison.

update: at the office in Berserk's room, Moron says to Ghost and Vulture:

"She defies me. Seen that?"

Ghost: "Nonsense."

Moron: "They're getting married because of me."

Vulture: "Are you a joke? Didn't they get engaged first?"

Moron: (exploding) "Say yes for once. For once, say you're right, you're great. But never, always talk back."

Yes, Moron wants everyone to lie and tell him he is right. It's not fair that they upset him by telling him the truth.

That last line resonates with me - it is exactly how my brother acts if anyone attempts to tell him the truth about himself - he flies into a rage and says it's all because I/they are jealous of him. When he insults people - which he does constantly - he says it's because it's the truth and they should accept that - but when anyone tells him what they perceive to be their truth about him he goes ballistic. I guess Moron isn't the only one !! Yes - I can understand how the Muslim culture would enrage you - I think it probably enrages anybody who is not Muslim - I guess that's why they inbreed - because anybody with a brain cell would steer clear of them. I can't say I have noticed Sule acting guilty - I just thought she was sad for Beserk - but yes she is of a similar age to Berna - they may have been acquainted - the CD shows it was a male who threw her off the balcony - so I think she had nothing to do with her death but she knows something. Maybe she knows who the actual killer is - but if that is the case why not just tell him? It's a standard thing in cop shows - a villain runs away - "Stop" they yell - or in some particularly moronic shows "Come back" as if!! They go to suspected crime scenes with their blues and twos flashing and blaring and wonder why the criminals get away before they arrive. Please tell me it's not going to be ten episodes of Beserk in prison and on trial for "a crime he did not commit" because let's be honest - he probably did - if not that specific one then a similar one. I am not sure what episode I am on to be honest - have you got to the part where GONUL! has been fired from her nightclub job? Oh no - I have reminded myself of those dancers on the stage - the old hags in whore skirts and thunder thighs. In my day if you had fat legs you hid them - today they wear microskirts - it is not a pretty sight. I am not politically correct as you already know - I say it like I see it - especially when I don't want to see it !! I am not sure of Moron's reasoning when he says "they are getting married because of me" how does that work? Anyway the way this show is going it doesn't look like either of them will get married - Moron or Eda. I am waiting for those inevitable two words "I'm pregnant" and it wont be Meliha or Eda that say them. Then there will a crisis "How dare she get pregnant - I didn't tell her she could - she has dishonoured me - it's no good - I can't control myself - I shall have to kill her - it's a family thing - the police can't do anything". I am still puzzled by the differences in dress and attitudes in Turkey - I know it is less strict than most Muslim countries - but when you see women in full Muslim garb walking alongside women with flowing free hair - low cut tops and jeans - not to mention the stripper clothes they wear in nightclubs - even being in a nightclub - it seems so odd. Have you gotten to the blonde bombshell that is Excrement yet?

Yes, I've seen blondie, but he has gone on from there to near skinhead status, hiding out by playing soccer (on a team he probably owns). The powerful people he has been funding to cover up all his murdery habits have had enough of him, and he is on the run from them and the police. Only his fixit man and some loyal crew, like the chatty cop, are helping him now, but he is still unconcerned with everything, still killing with a smile. Oddly, Berserk is secretly working to prevent him being killed by the elite kill squad of Istanbul police sent to hunt him as skinhead has info on Berna's death and their shared background. Strange Bedfellows indeed. I don't think prison will be more than a couple episodes at most. I looked ahead and saw a summary where he is back in action, so it shouldn't be bad. I imagine he will be slapping and beating other inmates who irritate him. Should be fun.

Yes I have seen Gonul fired, and Berserk puts her up for a while. She is aware of how others like Serket view her and wants to find a way to get out of there quickly, though Berserk doesn't care and actually likes her looking after Sule. All he needs do is speak to the nightclub manager and she will be thundering around stage again. I don't know if you've seen video of some of the biker chicks, the whores who hang on to biker gang members on the backs of their bikes. Some of them are absolutely disgusting, eliciting looks of shock, horror, and nausea. Some hugely obese women (I guess some bikers like that, shudders) defiantly plant their fat asses on the backs of those bikes wearing bikinis (I hope), the bottoms of which are nearly totally hidden beneath the multi-rolls of blubber and cellulose. The fat rolls would cover everything even if bottomless. No cop would want to check to see if they were guilty of public nudity. No one can stand to look at them anyway. Moron looks svelte by comparison. THOSE women need burkas.

Cevdet and Asli are a long way from crossing that line I think. Cevo is ultra proper and wouldn't want to expose Asli to the ramifications of unwed pregnancy, no matter how horny he got, at least he seems that way.

I think everyone knows someone who acts like your brother, at least to some degree. Thinking back I recall catching myself in such thinking, and feeling shame at my hypocrisy. To the person who deludes himself like that, the obvious is hidden by the pathology. A spark of self awareness is needed for change to occur. But there needs to be some internal guiding principle, conscience, to break through the rationalizations, the "it's not the same thing with me, I have a good reason" type thinking, before a person can objectively see their hypocrisy honestly, and feel revulsion to see it in themselves, and decide to change. It's what alcoholics in AA talk about when taking their soul searching personal inventory, when they determine to look at everyone they've harmed, and all the ways in which they've harmed them, in the course of their life of addiction. For many of them, they have to hit rock bottom before they stop lying to themselves, saying they're not alcoholics and can stop whenever they want, etc. The nature of that addiction, with the clouded thinking and blackouts, is such that many of them destroy their lives before reaching that place.

Melhia is very perceptive, honest, and candid, and in a non-confrontational manner she asks Moron if he really wants to get married. She says she knows it isn't just stress, that she sees he isn't happy. She tells him she isn't set on getting married, doesn't care what others think or say, and that she can explain it to her parents if he isn't really ready to be married. Moron stubbornly lies to her and himself, as is his stubborn habit. She persists in giving him the option of calling off the wedding, sensing that he isn't going forward with it because it's what he really wants. But Moron can't ever admit he has lied, or that his delusions are not real. His lies lack conviction though, and Melhia can sense he feels some compulsion to push forward despite his unhappiness, and his lack of attraction or affection toward her. Social pressure (what will my friends think if I don't marry now after I've said this is what I want? I can't admit I was wrong, or lying. I MUST do this, I AM happy) motivates him significantly, as well as the delusion that marriage will salve the hurt of rejection by Eda. If he gets married before learning that she and Selim have split, Moron will need to be committed, if he isn't arrested for something first. I can't find the words to describe what I imagine he would do if that happened.

I have to wonder about Moron's mother. Is she also self deluded regarding her son? Is she motivated completely by societal norms and "what the Joneses will think"? His mom should have some degree of perception which would allow her to see how incapable Moron is of entering into a mature, honest, relationship with a woman. Are Muslim women so controlled by the prohibition against arguing with men that even a mother cannot challenge her son to be honest with himself and others? The mother acts almost willingly ignorant, and self deluded, as though her idea of what she wants will trump reality. Maybe Moron learned it from her. Her desire for her son to be happily married may be all she can see, and his unhappiness is incongruent with that illusion she wants to realize, so she discounts the obvious indicators that he is an unhappy, dishonest, idiot, totally unprepared for a healthy relationship, with anyone. If Moron wasn't enabled and shielded from having to confront reality by that culture, and those around him who apparently think it's not their place to make him own up, etc. he might stand a chance to learn to change. If he were in a marriage with someone like Melhia, and if she could get through to that nearly lifeless spark in his brain which knows the truth, but refuses to acknowledge it, she could actually help him to change. But he would have to develop some trust in her, and affection toward her, and allow himself to be vulnerable with her, for her good influence to begin to have an effect upon him. And given all we have seen of his personality, and the lengths to which he will go to avoid feeling the shame and guilt of admitting that he has lied in even the smallest way, the odds of him learning to be a decent sort of person are slim and none. Melhia would need more patience than Job, and more love than Jesus, and maybe, maybe, over time, a whole lot of time, eons maybe, Moron could chang.....No, what the hell am I talking about? That fat bastard won't ever change.

For that poor girl's sake, I really hope Moron can come up with some face saving lie to allow him to call off the marriage, or even that Melhia will have the courage to do it for him. If she did, of course, we would have to listen to Moron's histrionic displays of face saving crap, and possibly hear him threaten an honor killing or two in front of his work colleagues. But I don't see him intentionally killing anyone like that, and not Melhia. He would realize she did it for him.

I am in the begining of episode 38. I should find out who killed Berna soon. I don't know if you have learned this yet so I won't say anything about it til you say you have seen this episode also. The summary also says he learns why Excrement has it in for him, he gets some insight into their past and whatever connections there are there. Should be a good one.

second comment: I guess it speaks to some level of skill on the part of these actors that I get this involved in what I know are fictional relationships, make believe people. Of course, we the viewers tacitly agree to buy into the illusion, to view them as real people. It is how we are entertained by the story. Still, it is fascinating to me how effectively my own emotions are aroused by these fictional personalities.

(Excrement loves to take revenge on those who betray him. He chose to stab a man repeatedly in the abdomen below the stomach, which is a cruel and slow way to kill him. The mesenteric blood vessels supplying the intestines are plentiful, but not very large, so the person will bleed out, but it takes time. It doesn't happen quickly, as they show that man dying. And it is said to be very uncomfortable as well. Excrement is a real psychopath. )

I seem to have missed the Meliha offering to postpone or cancel the marriage - I have just finished Ep 37 and and it is all happening. Moron went shopping for a wedding dress (or was that a wedding cake on steroids) with Meliha and Asli and as usual is spending money he can't afford to show off - of course silly Asli left her phone where Moron could find it and he found out about her and Cevdet eventually. Naturally he went crazy but after a word with the Captain he changed his attitude and allowed them to phone and text each other - just like he did with his whore gold-digger girlfriend - geez this culture. Selim's girlfriend turned stalker - attempted murderer and finally ultimate betrayer when she told Eda that he had cheated on her. Vulture has been slapped in the face by his stalker but wont tell why. There is a new team from Istanbul been sent to catch Excrement - oddly I really like Excrement - he is so pantomime evil he makes me laugh. I liked him playing table tennis with all the ancients watching and applauding. It was a bit "of all the bars in all the world" territory when Bizarre's leftie friend turned up to visit Bizarre's grandpa in the retirement home and he had just told the story of the entire episode concerning Bizarre's flight to Istanbul in Excrements hearing - for one thing why would leftie female friend be visiting Bizarre's grandfather? Now Excrement has just killed Tekin - the leader of the Istanbul hit team (in Beserks house) and is asking Beserk to hide him in exchange for telling him who killed Berna. Of course he will. Sule is really getting on my nerves - I am depressed in the summer - I'll be fine in the Fall - can I see inside the cockpit - will you teach me to fly the plane - come on - she talks like a three year old. It's odd I have only seen Excrement go skinhead and kill Tekin - that was the end of ep 37 - I haven't seen him in a football team or Meliha asking Moron if he really wants to marry. As far as his mother is concerned I think she just wants him off her hands - if he doesn't leave the house she will be stuck with another dominating male for the rest of her life - she has probably had a lot of practice at managing her husband - and when he dies she will have some measure of freedom again - but not if Moron is around - he will simply take over where his father left off. Also I think she wants to appear normal - it may be in that culture that if a woman has an unmarried child of 30 it may reflect on her failings as a mother. She has to know what he is - and still she is willing to subject an innocent young woman to his nonsense. I haven't seen those biker chicks videos and I don't think I want to!! It's the result of excessive liberalism and forsaking of any kind of standards - it's like the fall of the Roman Empire times ten. I hope Meliha changes her mind and finds a reason to leave town - if she has any intelligence at all it's the only course of action open to her. I didn't think Meliha or Eda or Asli would get pregnant - I thought Selim's stalker might.

MAJOR SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN EP 38. READ NO FURTHER !!! Oh dear - what a fun filled episode. Moron has really cooked his own goose now - but really Merliha knew he had no interest in her or the wedding - I can't imagine why she let it get that far. Now Moron has been disowned by his family which is good news for his sister - because if he is no longer any son of theirs he is also no longer any brother of hers and has no say whatever in her life. That dancing!! It's sort of like Greek I suppose - but so strange. I don't know why we needed the same conversation between him and Eda - they have already said almost exactly the same words before. But at least Selim is history. I don't know what difference Eda not being engaged makes to Moron - she has already told him in no uncertain terms that she doesn't even like him. So now we know why Sule had to be endured all this time - I had an idea that she had something to do with Beserk - I thought she may have been a daughter he didn't know about. But how does "He threw us out because my mom was sterile" work? said by her child. I hope this is the last of the bald headed one - I am really tired of her - and wasn't that a man in the footage? Or is that another continuity who gives a toss. So now Beserk has been set up - oh dear - how very original. I hope they resolve that nonsense quickly because it bores me rigid. By the way - the woman playing his wife (overacting it) is his real life wife..

OK, I am halfway through ep 38 now and I am doing a sporadic play by play I should hold off on posting so you can enjoy the surprise. I have not seen it yet, but I suspect the wedding won't happen, probably at the last minute. It will be another shining example of Moron putting his delusional desires ahead of everyone and everything else. It is 100% certain that things won't turn out the way he wants them to turn out, and that he will blame others for this. He won't acknowledge that he was wrong to jump to conclusions or develop expectations wholly unsupported by anything other than his delusional fantasies. He will blame others for doing or saying, or not doing or not saying things which his childish, selfish, delusional mind twisted into 'signs' which led him astray in his thinking. Something like that will happen after he makes a complete mess of things. I see that you have posted now so I will end this and comment after reading yours.

whoops. I guess I will finish ep 38 and then read your post, and then post my other comment. Back soon